


Little they knew

by Sharky857



Category: Street Sharks (Cartoon)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, OCs Included, minor warning for some strong language here and there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 11:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18716566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharky857/pseuds/Sharky857
Summary: A series of short stories about each Bolton's first impression of Paradigm's daughter (and the other way around as well).





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE NOTE! The following contains personal OCs once again. If you're not fond of OCs, just skip this one.
> 
> Initially I intended to write this one as a series of separated snippets, but the last part turned out more into a short story than an actual snippet.  
> I'm also uploading it to test out how to make separated chapters for a single story.

The first Bolton to stumbled across Emily was John.  
The two attended the same Bio-Engineering course at Fission State University, so they would've been bound to share lectures and classes.  
  
That morning, the two ended up sitting next to each other. Being a gentle soul, the boy greeted her with a simple 'good morning' .  
The girl just cast him a quick glance and a nod of acknowledgement, before rummaging into her own backpack to grab her textbook and a notepad for the lecture that was about to begin.  
  
_"Sheesh, talk about unsociable."_ The young man thought to himself at first.  
  
However, as the morning went by, he couldn't help but notice that this unknown girl hadn't spoken for the whole time. All she had been doing all along was following the lecture very intently and taking notes likewise carefully. She never even rose her hand to ask a single question, to the point that John began to wonder if she could even talk at all.  
  
During the break, the girl didn't even stand up from her seat.  
She just sat all alone inside the hall reviewing all the notes taken so far, while the other students either went outside to get some fresh air or hanged around in the hallway, getting some snacks and drinks from the vending machines.  
  
By the end of that morning, John's doubt became his own certainty: maybe that poor girl was actually mute.  
And immediately guilt-tripped himself for judging her so quickly, thinking that she was unsociable and also kind of rude.  
  
When the morning lecture was over, everyone gathered their own books and whatnot and, little by little, left the hall.  
Emily, John and another small handful of students were the last to leave for the lunch break.  
  
The boy kept casting secret glances at the girl, wondering if he could try and approach her. Simply to ask, out of sheer politeness, to grab something to eat together.  
He hadn't seen that young woman talking nor making an attempt at interacting with anyone for the whole morning, probably she would've been all alone also at lunch time.  
  
A thought suddenly ran though his mind: maybe people treated her as an outcast because she was mute...? Was that why she didn't even bother to make an attempt at soclalising?  
  
If that were the case, that was one dick move from everyone else's part!  
  
"Uhm, excuse me." John recalled her attention. The girl settled her backpack on her right shoulder then looked back at him with her grey eyes, silently waiting for him to go on.  
Before he could try and ask her anything, someone else grabbed the attention of the duo.  
  
"Hey, guys. My phone's battery just died and I forgot my watch. Could anyone tell me what time is it, please?"  
It was another student, a blond man with a lot of freckles.  
  
"It's 1:30 pm." The girl answered, after taking a quick glance at her own phone screen.  
  
"Thank you!" The blondehead smiled, before leaving the room.  
  
"No problem." The young woman merely answered back, before looking back at John. "Would you need for something too?"  
  
"Oh... You're not mute." John gasped instinctively. And immediately cursed himself. "Ugh, s-sorry! Didn't mean to offend you."  
  
Emily just stared at him for a moment, an eyebrow cocked. Then she waved a hand. "Don't sweat it. I can see where that supposition may have come from."  
  
"O-Oh... You do?" The other asks back sheepishly.  
  
"Hmh." She nodded slowly, then shrugged. "I'm just not the chatty kind."  
  
"Fair enough." The boy nodded back. Then snorted lightly. "Urgh, where are my manners?" He muttered under his breath, then he stretched a hand out. "My name's John. John Bolton."  
  
The other politely shook hand with him, a faint smile on her face. "Emily. Emily P-- _Cortez_."  
  
"Nice to meet you, Emily." John smiled back, glad that the girl seemed not to think too much of that awkward remark he'd made shortly earlier.  
  
"So, uhm... Would you like to go grab something to eat? My next class will be in one hour or so." The young man then asked gently.  
  
"Funny coincidence, so does mine." Emily hummed, then shrugged lightly. "Ok, then. We've got plenty of time, after all."


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! This chapter also contains mild harassment / catcalling

Robert Bolton Jr, simply known as Bobby, spotted from a distance that eyecandy walking on a sidewalk in the campus.  
A brunette with middle-length, wavy hair, grey eyes, and most probably hiding some 'sweet curves' under those cargo pants and comfy jacket.  
  
Little he knew that Emily actually hid some 'sweet muscles' under those clothes instead.  
  
The young man was absolutely sure that he would've walked away with her number, by using some of his own 'Bobby charm' and a smooth talk to butter her up.  
  
Bobby quickly checked himself in the mirror of a car parked nearby, then began skating in her general direction.  
Due to what was quite a bad timing to his own eyes, he halted when he spotted another guy standing up from a bench when the girl walked past him, literally blocking her way while flashing a big smile.  
  
The rollerskater boy could do nothing but look at the scene from the distance, while deciding whether he should've given up or just waited.

 

* * *

  
  
"Hey, babe. Whatcha doin' all alone?" The jerk asked Emily.  
  
"It's a campus, _babe_. Take a wild guess." The girl answered back deadpan, stepping aside with the intent of resume her walk. She always hated being late to her classes.  
  
The other stepped aside as well, standing in her way once again, much to Emily's now clear irritation.  
  
"Aw, c'mon! No need to be this unsociable." He kept smiling and talking in that unnervingly condescending tone. "A cutie like you should smile and open up some more."  
  
"If you don't get outta my way this instant, I'm gonna _open up_ your sorry ass." She hissed back, taking another step aside as she shoved the other out of her way, then resuming her walk.  
  
"Yo, stuck-up bitch!" The other yelled behind her back. "You think you're hot stuff just 'cause your father is that richman?"  
  
At that remark, Bobby saw the girl freeze on her steps. Then she turned on her heels and marched back to the jerk.  
  
"So what? Would you be trying to hit on me just because I am his daughter?" Emily asked back, eyes menacingly narrowed. "I'll be brutally honest: you aren't the first and surely won't be the last one to do so for that very reason. Fortunately, I know how to put the likes of you back into your fuckin' place."  
  
The other blinked for a moment, as if he'd been taken slightly aback by that small outburst. Then he snorted amused.  
  
"Oh... You think you could deck me? PFT...! Ahahahah, that's priceless!" The jock laughed, then moved next to the girl and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her closer.   
  
"Hands off, pretty boy." She hissed again.  
  
"Sweetheart, take a better look: I'm a quarterback." The other scoffed instead, without even budging his hand from her shoulder. "I'm used to take any kind of blow, even the hardest ones. What are you gonna do? Bruise my ankles?"  
  
It was clear that the jerk wasn't taking that girl seriously.   
He was definitely taller and broader than the girl, so he was absolutely certain that she could've never hurt him, even if she'd wanted to.  
  
Bobby was now mildly concerned for the safety of that girl, and was about to move forwards to step in, when...  
  
"Hm, that might be a good starting point."  
  
That being said, the girl first quickly dealt a hard blow with her own heel into his shin.  
  
With a pained yelp, the jock let Emily go. However, he didn't move fast enough; before he could even step to a safer distance, the girl delivered an elbow right under his chin, before turning and hit him away with a knee to his groin.  
  
"You should stand corrected: you're a quarterback used to take hard blows solely because you all always wear protections during a game. But it looks like you forgot that this is no game and you had no protections of sort." Emily scoffed back at the boy, who was now wriggling on the ground in a fetal position.  
  
"And that was for _not_ respecting my personal space, asshole." She then hummed, before resuming her walk at a brisker pace. To her own taste, that son-of-a-gun made her waste too much precious time already.  
  
Bobby stared at the girl with eyes and mouth wide open for the shock.   
  
"Whoa... Holy shit!" The boy whispered in awe.   
"Well... He surely did take some hard blows alright."  
  
When he realised that that savage girl was storming right into his direction, he just turned on his heels and quickly skated away.   
He was definitely not going to be as persistent -creepy?- as that other guy, but Bobby felt like he would've much desired to be safe than sorry, sorry _and_ in plenty of pain.


	3. Chapter Three

Being still in highschool, Coop had his chance of seeing Emily, albeit in an incidental way, during a football game he too had gone to watch with his friends.  
  
The game was quite a big charity event, meant to collect money for the renovation of Fission City hospital. The patron was the local multibillionaire owning Paradigm Enterprises: professor Luther Paradigm himself.   
  
For the occasion, the man also made a public appearance alongside his only daughter, Emily Paradigm.  
Professor Paradigm himself held a quick speech right before the game, where he also stated once again that "all money collected before and during the game by Paradigm Enterprises will be entirely donated to cover the costs for the hospital."  
  
Father and daughter were seated in the official gallery, and from his own seat Coop could catch a glimpse of them on the big screen, whenever the camera zoomed on them.  
  
He couldn't help but note how the man was showing great interest in the ongoing game, while his daughter looked overall bored most of the time.  
A couple times the camera even caught Emily either trying to fight back a big yawn, or just checking her own phone. Most of the times she seemed mildly annoyed by the loudly cheering crowd whenever this or that team scored.  
  
That kind of behaviour hadn't gone unnoticed to Coop's friends either, who started to make fun of 'the bored Princess'.  
Coop himself wasn't the kind to make openly fun of a random stranger -Emily may have been pretty well known in the city because of her father, but she still was a stranger nonetheless-. On the other hand, that behaviour was starting to get on his nerves.  
  
"I don't believe it, look! She's wearing earbuds now!" One of the boys howled amused, when the big screen showed, in fact, the girl wearing said earbuds and clearly starting to skim through some playlist on her MP3 player, seemingly uninterested to the game.  
  
"I know right? I just don't get it." Coop snorts back. "I mean, if she doesn't like football, she could just stay at home, it's not rocket science."  
  
Little did the boy know that Emily wasn't bored nor uninterested at all.  
  


* * *

  
"Emily? Are you feeling alright?" Her father asked with a light concern.  
  
"I'm ok, dad. Just... Tired." The girl answered back, fighting back another yawn. "I forgot about today's football game and studied till late night. Sorry."  
  
"Yes, you always have this habit." Her father smiled lightly. "Don't sweat it. Studying hard is good to get the best grades, but remember that a nice rest is also as good." He then added gently.  
  
The girl simply nodded back, before wincing lightly at some loud cheering.   
The man noted that, along with the way his daughter brought a hand up to rub her own temple.   
It was clear that being in such loud place, along with her current tiredness, was giving the girl some migraine.  
  
"Perhaps would you rather leave? We could catch up later at home." He asked her gently.  
  
"Nah, it's fine." She smiled reassuringly. "I'll try to filter all this noise out with some music, if you don't mind." She added, showing the mp3 player she had in the pocket of her jacket.  
  
"Sure thing, dear. Go ahead." Professor Paradigm nodded with a paternal smile.


	4. Chapter Four

Emily had just begun showing up to the Bolton's place when Clint first met her.  
  
By then they all knew that the 'Emily Cortez' always mentioned by John was actually 'Emily Paradigm'.   
  
When they had found it out, John asked her why she chose a fake name. He hadn't been disappointed nor angry, just genuinely puzzled by that choice. T  
he girl had answered that it wasn't fake at all, for Cortez was her late mother's last name: Linda Cortez.  
  
"I decided to go for 'Cortez' because I wish to go through college solely on my own, without any slight hint of favouritism just because of who my father is." She had explained.  
  
At first Clint just couldn't get why and how John could keep on hanging around 'that weirdo chick'.   
In the end he just shrugged it off: John and Emily went to the same University, even attending the very same course, and they both were bookworms. They just seemed to be a perfect match.  
  
Besides, their father seemed not to mind that, rather; professor Bolton seemed glad to see the girl hanging out with at least one of his boys.  
Likewise, professor Paradigm seemed very pleased of seeing his girl finally getting some friends. The man seemed especially glad to know that she was getting along nicely with the oldest son.  
  
In time, it had become the norm to see both boy and girl studying together in John's room, especially with a big exam on the way.   
Bobby joked that, if they'd kept this up, those two 'eggheads' could have as well started dating each other.   
  
Little he knew that that was also what some multibillionaire professor had been lowkey aiming for.  
  
But Clint wasn't so sure about that. Even though to his eyes John and Emily seemed like a perfect match, for some obscure reason there was something that made him think that maybe they weren't _that_ perfect for each other.  
  
The first time she had shown up to their place, he too tried to greet her. The girl just silently nodded back with a deadpan expression, then simply followed John to his room upstairs.   
Emily was there only to study and nothing else mattered; the sooner they would've started, the more time the two had at their disposal to study.  
  
"Heh, typical stuck-up, uptown chick." Clint grumbled under his breath.  
  
He couldn't help but note that said 'chick' also had quite a 'resting bitch' face, which only strengthened his own opinion.   
  
No matter how many times his dad tried to explain him that Emily was, simply put, an introvert with trust issues.   
"She's gone her whole scholastic life with children and kids trying to befriend her solely because of who her father was. And in time she hated it to the core, to the point of completely isolating herself." Professor Bolton had said.  
  
On the other hand, Emily found Clint to be lazy, loudmouthed at times, and too brash. Clint's lazyness seemed obvious to the girl in several different ways: from how many times she would hear him whine about doing simple chores, to the way he dressed.   
  
While John seemed to keep a simple yet pleasant look, Bobby was the 'dress to impress' kind, and Coop had his own sporty style, Clint seemed to constantly wear the first clothes he would dig out of his own closet, not even caring they didn't match the slightest.   
Like that 'fugly brown sweater' with those 'silly mimetic pants', they just were quite an eyesore.  
  
That young man definitely looked the opposite of his older brother John, who was calm and collected, always ready to study even till late night, and also ready to lend a hand whenever he would notice Emily struggle with a difficult chapter.  
  
As for Bobby, professor Bolton had already forewarned her that he was quite a carefree young man, constantly prone to flirt with any girl he would've deemed pretty.   
  
The man had jokingly asked her not to knock him out on the spot, if his boy had ever tried to flirt with Emily herself too.   
But he'd also given her full permission to sock or slap him, if Bobby had ever tried to forcefully step on her personal space.  
  
So, when the boy had tried to work his own 'Bobby charm' on her, Emily was pretty much ready for it.  
He hadn't tried to step on any boundary of sort, so the girl kept her hands off as well. She had simply silently studied him with her gaze for a moment, then uttered a mere "get lost" and walked away in the opposite direction.  
She hadn't really appreciated the shameless flirting, but she had appreciated how he hadn't insisted any further.  
  
As for Coop, Emily noted right away what a sweetheart the teenager was. Which had actually struck her in a good way.   
Simply put, Coop was the living proof that not all football players were complete jackass.  
  
Being the youngest, Cooper was often the favourite target of Bobby and Clint's jokes and taunts, while John was the one keeping them all in line whenever things seemed about to escalate.   
  
In time, Emily's opinions on most of the Boltons began to change, just like their opinions on her had been gradually changing as well, one way or another.  
  
By keeping on hanging at their place, she gradually started to see more and more of their respective personalities.  
  
Her opinion on John was pretty much the same: a nice and hardworking guy, maybe too polite at times, who was like some kind of second father to his brothers.  
  
Cooper seemed the typical 'gentle giant' at first, and as such sometimes people were like in awe due to his build, also thinking twice before trying to approach him.  
Coop knew that, and sometimes he would also take advantage of it for good causes, like breaking a fight.   
The teenager was indeed a sweetheart, but he also had guts.  
  
Bobby was some kind of 'compulsive ladiesman'. Emily would've thought of him as the nth 'fuckin' dumb jock' around the campus, but she had already witnessed firsthand how he knew when to hold back instead of insisting when getting a rejection.   
After the girl's refusal, he had just shrugged it off and kept on seeing her as a mere acquaintance.   
  
In return and since she hadn't decked him as he'd initially feared a while ago, even Bobby's opinion on the girl, in time, had started to change in positive.  
In addition, the 'ladiesman' could also show genuine kindness with simple gestures, like bringing a couple glasses of juice to 'the two braniacs secluded in John's room'.   
  
And then there was Clint.  
  
Each other's opinion about one another seemed bound to remain unchanged, until a fateful afternoon.  
  
Once again, Emily was at their place to study with John; the two had quite a big exam in a couple weeks, and they had already planned their study schedule until then.   
Whenever the girl had come over, she and the young man would've rarely left his room.  
  
That afternoon the girl left the room for a simple toilet break. On her way, she heard someone coming upstairs while huffing a little, but she didn't think much of it.  
Once done her business and walked out of the bathroom, she suddenly found herself face to face with Clint.  
  
A bare-chested and kinda sweaty Clint, more precisely.  
  
The other hadn't noticed her presence yet, too busy dabbing some sweat away from his face with a towel.  
  
Emily swallowed hard as she silently and slowly stepped aside and away from the threshold.  
  
Alas, she was perhaps too slow.  
  
With a light sigh, Clint lowered his towel and finally saw the girl.  
  
"Oh, hello there." The young man simply greeted.  
  
"...H-Hi." The other stammered a little, trying not to stare too much nor for too long at him.   
She then cleared her own voice and tried to make a witty remark so to hide her current embarrassment.  
  
"W-Well... I didn't know that snoozing could be such a _tiring_ activity."  
  
Clint stared at her for a moment, then snorted. "Well, _snoozing_ on a carpet is not exactly ideal, since that would count as a K.O."  
  
Taken aback by that reply, Emily blinked. "Wait... what?"  
  
"You heard me." The young man smirked, then tossed the towel over his own shoulder and flexed a bicep.   
  
"You're looking at a Light Heavyweight class boxer, my girl."  
  
Emily's eyes widened some as she gasped lightly, instantly forgetting about her own embarrassment.  
  
"You... You do _boxe_...?"  
  
"I sure do!" Clint nodded.   
  
The girl couldn't hold back the huge grin that was now slowly forming on her face. A reaction that took the other by surprise.   
  
"Wait... You like boxe too?"  
  
"Are you shittin' me?" Emily grinned openly, then she took off her hoodie, revealing a simple, light blue t-shirt with short sleeves. "I fuckin' love boxing!"  
  
That said, she flexed her arm right back at the boy.  
  
"Medium Weight class, _my boy_." She hummed to the now awestruck young man. "But I might fall into Light Heavyweight too someday, if I'll ever put on another couple of pounds."  
  
Clint stared agape at the girl.   
He had sooo many questions now, but at the moment he felt like his brain was on some kind of shutdown,   
  
_-Clint.exe has stopped working-_  
  
and couldn't bring any.   
  
The young man observed the girl in front of him.   
By looking at her relaxed arm, he had to admit that she didn't look all that muscular.  
Emily was clearly fit, and her overall build was just right. Not the hourglass figure of a top model or something, but clearly looking healthy.  
Her muscles would show up whenever she flexed, as he could see from her other, flexed arm.  
  
So no, Clint realised by himself that she wasn't shittin' him at all; Emily truly was into boxe.  
  
"This is so crazy..." He whispered, then a grin slowly formed over his lips as well. "This is so _awesomely crazy_ , holy shit!"  
  
"I'm taking that as a compliment." Emily smiled back, relaxing her arm.  
  
"You'd better, Ems! Uh... Mind if I call you that?"  
  
The girl blinked for a moment at that nick, then shrugged lightly.   
  
"I've already been called 'Emmie', so I guess one more nick won't hurt." She smiled faintly.  
  
"Really? Alright, then!"   
  
Even though he didn't let it on, the young man felt kinda amazed.  
It wasn't just finding out that he himself and that girl unexpectedly shared at least one common interest. It was also how they had been finally having a real conversation.  
Perhaps Emily wasn't as stuck-up as he initially thought.  
  
"So, any chance of going to see a match together, sometimes? Or even train together on our own, since we aren't that different, class-wise?" Clint grinned.  
  
Emily took a moment to ponder the offer. "Hmmm... Right now I'll be busy with my studies for another week or so. This exam is way too important to be failed." Then she smiled, this time more warmly. "But after that I'll be pretty much free again, so why not?"  
  
"Awesome!" The young man grinned.  
  
Little he knew that what he'd learned that day was bound to be only the first of a few more surprises.  
  
And little Emily knew that _that_ would've been the beginning of the downfall of what was already quite a precarious relationship with her own father.


End file.
